Breadcrumb trail

Water Science

National Water Research Institute

Canada's Leader in Freshwater Research

Environment Canada's National Water Research Institute (NWRI) is the largest freshwater research entity in Canada. NWRI, National Water Quality Monitoring and staff at Centre Saint-Laurent in Montreal make up the Water Science and Technology Directorate, and work together to generate the scientific knowledge needed to sustain Canada’s water resources and freshwater ecosystems.

Environment Canada's water scientific and technical knowledge is available here for users of water S&T, including governments, environmental regulators, policy- and decision-makers, land-use planners, researchers, and industry.

Visit Environment Canada's Science and Technology site to learn more about the work of other key components of the Science and Technology Branch.

It has been known for over 20 years that pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are released into the environment, however only in the last 10 years have analytical methods become sufficiently sensitive to identify and quantify their presence in wastewater treatment plant effluents, surface waters, drinking water, ground water, biosolids, agricultural manures, and biota. The presence of PPCPs in the environment has emerged as a societal issue, but the science with respect to exposure and impacts is still evolving.

The subject of the current report was based on a third National Workshop entitled "Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Canadian Environment: Research and Policy Directions" which took place March 5th to 7th, 2007 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. This Workshop assessed the current state of Canada's research on PPCPs in the environment in government, academia and industry sectors.

Phase 1

Analysis of Current and Historical Surface Water Monitoring Programs and Activities in the Athabasca Oil Sands Area, to 2011 (Accessible PDF: 9.65 MB)

S&T Leaders: Integrated Water Monitoring. A new National Automated Water Quality Monitoring Network was implemented in 2006 as part of the Water Quality Monitoring and Reporting Program of Environment Canada.